Drum dumping lift truck attachment

ABSTRACT

A mechanism for attachment to the fork lift of a lift truck. The mechanism fits over and grips a barrel. Then, as the barrel is lifted beyond a predetermined height by the fork lift, the barrel is automatically pivoted over to dump the contents thereof.

United States Patent [191 Glewwe DRUM DUMPING LIFT TRUCK ATTACHMENT [75]Inventor: Vern K. Glewwe, Davenport, Iowa [73] Assignee: DoyierEquipment Company, Inc.,

Nashville, Tenn.

[22] Filed: June 22, I972 [2]] Appl. No.: 265,355

[52] 11.5. C1. 214/313; 214/654; 214/620 [51] Int. Cl 1365f 3/00 [58]Field of Search 214/302, 313, 315, 314,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,814,403 11/1957 Ericson214/654 3,206,052 9/1965 Kennedy 214/620 3,448,880 6/1969 Howard 214/620July s, 1915 Primary Examiner-Robert G. Sheridan AssistantxaminerLawrence .l. Oresky Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Harrington A. Lackey5 7 1 ABSTRACT A mechanism for attachment to the fork lift of a lifttruck. The mechanism fits over and grips a barrel. Then, as the barrelis lifted beyond a predetermined height by the fork lift, the barrel isautomatically pivoted over to dump the contents thereof.

8 Claims, 11 Drawing Figures JUL 8 I975 L LTE TF SHEET 3 BF 3 DRUMDUMPING LIFT TRUCK ATTACHMENT BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This inventionrelates to a mechanism for lifting and dumping containers wherein themechanism may be utilized in combination with the fork lift of a lifttruck or the like.

Often in foundries and other industrial settings, materials aretransported or stored in containers such as barrels. During theparticular industrial operation involved, not only is it desirable totransport the barrel from one site to another. but also it is desirableto dump the container contents into, perhaps, still another container.Of course, transportation of containers in industrial settings is oftenaccomplished by the well-known fork lift truck or an equivalentapparatus.

Thus, it is desirable to provide a mechanism which may be utilized incombination with a fork lift truck to assist in the transportation of acontainer and also provide a means for dumping the container at adesirable location. Such a mechanism should be easily incorporated witha fork lift. It should also be easily removable, economical tomanufacture and be simply constructed to facilitate easy replacement andrepair.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In a principal aspect, the present inventioncomprises a mechanism which may be utilized in combination with the forklift of a lift truck to carry and dump containers. The mechanismincludes a frame with pivotal container gripping means attached thereto.The frame is attached to the fork lift and the pivotal gripping meanspivots to dump the container as the fork lift is raised beyond apredetermined height.

Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improvedmechanism for transporting and dumping containers.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a mechanismfor transporting and dumping containers which mechanism may be attachedand used in combination with a fork lift of a lift truck.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a containerdumping mechanism which grips a container and when raised to a desirableheight pivots the container about an axis substantially parallel to theground to thereby dump the contents of the container at a desiredposition.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a mechanismwhich may be easily attached and detached from the fork lift of a lifttruck.

These and other objects, advantages and features of the presentinvention will be set forth in a detailed description which follows.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING In the detailed description whichfollows, reference will be made to the drawing comprised of thefollowing figures:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a typical lift truck in combination withthe mechanism of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the mechanism of the present inventionwith a container mounted therein, the container being partially pivotedto dump the contents thereof;

FIG. 3 is another perspective view of the mechanism of the inventionwherein the container is pivoted so that the contents will be dumpedtherefrom;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of the mechanism of the presentinvention;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged partial perspective view of the clamping meansutilized to attach the mechanism of the present invention to a forklift;

FIG. 6 is a side view of the mechanism ofthe present invention;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the mechanism of the invention takensubstantially along the line 77 in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is another cross-sectional view of the clamp mechanism takensubstantially along the line 88 in FIG. 6',

FIG. 9 is an enlarged side view of the means for de taching thecontainer gripping means associated with the mechanism of the invention;

FIG. 10 is the means of FIG. 9 in a second partially disengagedposition; and

FIG. 11 is the means of FIG. 9 in a completely disengaged position.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Reference is first directed toFIG. I which illustrates a typical fork lift truck 10. This fork lifttruck I0 includes a front end lift mechanism 12 that has a movable forklift comprised of first and second outwardly extending fork members 14and 16 as also illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3. The fork members 14 and 16are attached to parallel cross bars 17 and 18. The cross bars I7 and 18slide on rails 19 and 20 and are driven vertically by means ofa drivechain 21. Typically, this is the manner for operation of a fork liftmechanism 12 associated with a fork lift truck 10.

The apparatus of the present invention comprises the container or drumdumping mechanism 23 in FIG. 1 attached to the fork members 14 and 16.In FIG. I, this mechanism 23 of the present invention is shownpositioned over a 55 gallon drum 22. The mechanism 23 can be loweredonto the drum 22 for attachment thereto and subsequent dumping by thesequence of steps illustrated by FIGS. 2 and 3. Reference will thereforebe made in the following description to FIGS. 4 through 11 for aninitial description of the structure of the mechanism 23 of the presentinvention. Following that, FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 will be considered in regardto operation of the mechanism 23 of the present invention.

Referring first to FIG. 4, the mechanism 23 of the present inventioncomprises a frame or bracket which includes first and second channelmembers 24 and 25. Members 24 and 25 are inverted to fit over the forkmembers I4 and 16 respectively. The channel members 24 and 25 are spacedfrom one another and attached together by a cross member 26 asillustrated in FIG. 5. A second cross member 27 cooperates with crossmember 26 as shown in FIGS. 5 and 8 to provide a clamping means forattachment of the mechanism 23 of the invention rigidly to the forkmembers 14 and 16.

That is, the cross member 27 has a guide plate 28 welded thereto. Plate28 is adapted to extend between the inner faces of the channel members24 and 25 as illustrated in FIG. 5. A bolt 30 threaded through a nut 31in cross member 26 may also be threaded into and through a second nut 32welded to the cross member 27. This will draw the member 27 toward themember 26 with the guide plate 28 acting to maintain the alignment ofthe member 27 relative to the member 26. Of course. the members 24 andare maintained in an aligned position by virtue oftheir channelconstruction which permits them to be fitted over the fork members 14and 16 as shown in FIG. 8. In this manner. the mechanism 23 of thepresent invention can be tightly attached to the fork members 14 and 16so that it will not slip therefrom.

Attached to the forward end of each of the channel members 24 and 25 isa single downwardly extending arm 34 and 35 respectively. The arms 34and 35 are held in a substantially vertical position by means of a brace37 and 38 extending respectively between the arm 34 and channel member24 and arm 35 and channel member 25. Container guide members 40 and 42extend outward and downward from the braces 37 and 38 respectivelyv Acircular member or container grasping ring 42 is pivotally attached tothe lower end of arms 34 and 35 so that it can pivot about an axissubstantially parallel with the ground. That is. a pivot shaft 44extends through an appropriate opening in a bracket 45 welded tocircular member 42 and further extends through arm 35 and brace 38. Onthe opposite side of the circular member 42 a pivot shaft 47 extendsthrough brace 37, arm 34 and connects to a lever arm mechanism 49.Mechanism 49 is rigidly attached to the circular member 42.

The lever arm mechanism 49 is also illustrates in FIGS. 6 and 7.Mechanism 49 includes a pulley wheel 50 which is rigidly attached toring member 42 as well as shaft 47. Thus, as illustrated in FIG. 6, thepulley wheel 50 rotates coincidently with circular member 42.Simultaneously, shaft 47 can freely pivot within arm 34 and brace 37. Ashield 52 is welded to the arm 34 so that the pulley wheel 50 may freelyrotate within the protective surface defined by the shield 52.

A cable 54 is fitted in a groove 56 ofthe pulley wheel 50 and attachedto the side of the pulley wheel 50 along a radius of wheel 50 at a firstlever arm distance from axis of shaft 47 as illustrated in FIG. 6. Thecable 54 passes through the groove 56 over an idler wheel or pulley 58attached to brace 37 and connects with a chain 60 as illustrated in FIG.6.

A second cable 62 is also fastened to the pulley wheel 50 along the sameradius from the shaft 47 as defined by the point of attachment of thecable 54 to the pulley wheel 50. Cable 62 is attached to a spring 64which has its opposite end attached to arm 24. Thus, the cable 62 tendsto oppose rotation of the pulley 50 in a counter clockwise sense asillustrated in FIG. 4. The static or rest position of the pulley wheel50 is illustrated in FIG. 4, however. Rotation in the counterclockwisesense is provided by pulling cable 54. In this manner. the circularmember 42 is made to pivot about the axis defined by the shafts 44 and47. Thus. referring to FIG. 6, the circular member 42 will tend to bepivoted in a counterclockwise direction as the cable 54 overcomes thetension force resulting from the spring 64.

A container gripping means is attached to the circu lar 42 to form acontainer support frame. This. means is illustrated most clearly inFIGS. 6 and 9-10. '1 gripping means includes a pair of parallel. uprightsupport members 65 and 66 extending vertically upward from the circularmember 42. Side braces or brackets 67 and 68 hold the support membersand 66 in a fixed position relative to the circular member 42. The boltsattaching the side brackets 67 an 68 may be removed so that the supportmembers 65 and 66 can be detached from the circular member 42 andreplaced by a substitute support member of different configuration orlength as required.

The support members 65 and 66 include l'..* .l\t:u upper ends 70 and 71,respectively. as illustrated in FIGS. 2. 3 and 9-11, comprisingafirst.ortop rim holding element. Ends 70 and 71 are spaced from the supportmembers 65 and 66 respectively. As the support members 65 and 66 arecomprised of spaced, parallel plates, a rim gripping member 72,comprising a second, or bottom, rim holding elements, is slidablyinserted therebetween. The rim gripping member 72 is inserted betweenthe support member plates 65 and 66, as illustrated in FIGS. 4, 6 and9-11.

Referring to FIGS. 9-11, the rim gripping member 72 is hooked shaped andpivots about a shaft 74 extending between support member 65 and 66. Asexplained above. the support members 65 and 66 have hooked or downwardlyextending upper ends 70 and 71 which are spaced from the main supportmembers 65 and 66. Thus, the upper ends 70 and 71 may fit on the insideof a drum 22 or other container. Simultaneously. the rim gripping member72 is biased in a clockwise sense about the shaft 74 by a spring 76which is attached to the support members 65 and 66. Thus, the rimgripping member 72 which has a hooked end 80 engages the upper rim 82 ofthe drum 22. In this manner. the drum 22 is locked firmly and heldfirmly against the upper end 70. It cannot slide from the circularmember 42 as the fork members 14 and I6 and thus the drum 22 are raised.

Referring now to FIGS. 9-11 and also FIGS. 4 and 6, there is illustratedthe construction and operation of means for disengaging the rim grippingmember 72 from the rim 82 of drum 22. This means includes a metalstirrup 84 which is attached to a first lever arm 86. The lever arm 86is fixed to a shaft 88 mounted on the cross member 26. A second leverarm 90 can be manually moved in a clockwise sense to cause the stirrup84 to be translated upward as illustrated in FIGS. 10 and 11. Thisraises the rim gripping member 72 against the force of the spring 76causing the rim grip ping member 72 to become disengaged from the rim 82of the drum 22.

Reference is now directed to FIGS. 1. 2 and 3 for a description of theoperation of the mechanism of the invention. First. the circular member42 is positioned over the drum 22 as illustrated in FIG. 1. The forkmembers 14 and 16 on the mechanism 23 are lowered so that the circularmember 42 fits about the girth of the drum 22. As the circular member 42is lowered, the front ends 70 and 71 of the bracket members 65 and 66fit over the inside of the rim 82. The rim gripping member 72 and, inparticular, the hooked end 80 engage the rim 82 as shown in FIG. 9. Thefork members 14 and 16 may then be raised to simultaneously raise lrum22.

-..e chain 60 is attached to the truck 10. Thus. the t-ngth o he chain60 from the point where it is at t..-..hcd to the pulley wheel 50 to theattachment point on the truck 10 is a fixed length. As the mechanism 23of the invention with the attached drum 22 is lifted, the

chain 60 pulls and pivots the pulley wheel 50 against the constrainingforce of the spring 64. As the mechanism 23 is raised higher and higher,the pulling of the chain 60 causes the drum 22 to be rotated or pivotedin the sequence illustrated by FIG. 2 and HO. 3 to thereby dump thecontents of the drum 22. The hooked upper ends 70 and 71 prevent thedrum 22 from falling from the mechanism 23.

While in the foregoing there has been set forth a preferred embodimentof the present invention, it is to be understood that the inventionshall be limited only by the following claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for attachment to the lifting element of a lift truckmechanism for holding and dumping an open-top container having a toprim, comprising:

a. a bracket,

b. means for detachably attaching said bracket to the lifting element ofa lift truck mechanism,

c. a container support frame adapted to receive and support an open-topcontainer,

d. journal means supporting said support frame on said bracket forrotational movement about a substantially horizontal axis between anupright position and dumping position, said journal means beingsupported below said lifting element of said lift truck mechanism,

e. lever means on said container support frame for rotating said supportframe relative to said bracket,

f. said container support frame comprising a circumferential member andrim gripping means,

g. said rim gripping means having a pair of cooperating holding elementsadapted to releasably hold one side of the top rim of an open-topcontainer received within said container support frame,

h. said circumferential member comprising at least a bearing portionspaced on the opposite side of a container received in said supportframe from said rim gripping means and spaced below said rim grippingmeans when said support frame is in said upright position,

i. said circumferential member being adapted to, upon lowering, looselyposition a container within said support frame in said upright position,said bearing portion being adapted to engage the opposite side of thecontainer from the side gripped by said gripping means and bear aportion of the weight of said container when said support frame isrotated to said dumping position.

2. The invention according to claim 1 in which said journal means ismounted on said bracket and supports said circumferential member forrotational movement, said lever means being fixed to saidcircumferential member, cable means for actuating said lever means torotate said circumferential member, and biasing means connected to saidcircumferential member to normally restore said container support frameto said upright position in the absence of any force exerted upon saidcable means.

3. The invention according to claim 2 in which said cable meanscomprises a cable, one end of which is connected to a point on saidcontainer support frame radially spaced from the rotational axis of saidjournal means, and means for attaching the other end of said cable to astationary portion of the lift truck mechanism to which said bracket isattached, whereby continued upward movement of said bracket relative tosaid lift truck mechanism, past the height at which said cable is taut,causes said container support frame to rotate toward said dumpingposition.

4. The invention according to claim 1 in which said circumferentialmember is ring-shaped, and said grip ping means comprises a standardfixed to and projecting upward from said ringshaped member on theopposite side from said bearing portion, said holding elements beingoperatively mounted on said standard.

5. The invention according to claim 4 in which said gripping meansfurther comprise operative means supporting said holding elements forautomatically receiving and holding the top rim of one side of acontainer positioned within said support frame, and actuator means forrelatively moving said holding elements to release said top rim.

6. The invention according to claim 5 in which one of said holdingelements comprises a first, downwardly opening, hook member formed atthe top of said standard for fitting over the top rim of an open-topcontainer received within said container support frame, said otherholding element comprises a second upwardly directed, hook memberjournaled on said standard to move below said first hook member andbeneath the top rim of said container to hold said top rim, and to moveaway from said first hook member to release said top rim.

7. The invention according to claim 6 in which said actuator means forreleasing said holding elements comprises a lever mechanismcooperatively engaging said pivotal second hook member, and means foractuating said lever mechanism to move said second hook member away fromsaid first hook member and from beneath the top rim ofa containerreceived in said container support frame.

8. The invention according to claim I in which said bracket comprisesclamp means for detachable attachment to the forks of a fork lift truckmechanism, stationary arms depending from said clamp means, said journalmeans being mounted on said depending arms below said clamp means.

t I! l i i UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Pate tNo. 3 893 5 7 7 H Dated y 1975 In ento Vern K. Glewwe It is certifiedthat error appears in the aboveidentified patent and that said LettersPatent are hereby corrected as shown below:

On the cover sheet, in item [75 "Doyier" should read Dozier Signed andScaled this ninth Day Of September1975 [SEAL] Atresr:

RUTH C. MASON c. MARSHALL DANN AIHSIUIK ()ffitrr ('rumnissiuncr 0!Parents and Trmlc'murks

1. Apparatus for attachment to the lifting element of a lift truckmechanism for holding and dumping an open-top container having a toprim, comprising: a. a bracket, b. means for detachably attaching saidbracket to the lifting element of a lift truck mechanism, c. a containersupport frame adapted to receive and support an open-top container, d.journal means supporting said support frame on said bracket forrotational movement about a substantially horizontal axis between anupright position and dumping position, said journal means beingsupported below said lifting element of said lift truck mechanism, e.lever means on said container support frame for rotating said supportframe relative to said bracket, f. said container support framecomprising a circumferential member and rim gripping means, g. said rimgripping means having a pair of cooperating holding elements adapted toreleasably hold one side of the top rim of an open-top containerreceived within said container support frame, h. said circumferentialmember comprising at least a bearing portion spaced on the opposite sideof a container received in said support frame from said rim grippingmeans and spaced below said rim gripping means when said support frameis in said upright position, i. said circumferential member beingadapted to, upon lowering, loosely position a container within saidsupport frame in said upright position, said bearing portion beingadapted to engage the opPosite side of the container from the sidegripped by said gripping means and bear a portion of the weight of saidcontainer when said support frame is rotated to said dumping position.2. The invention according to claim 1 in which said journal means ismounted on said bracket and supports said circumferential member forrotational movement, said lever means being fixed to saidcircumferential member, cable means for actuating said lever means torotate said circumferential member, and biasing means connected to saidcircumferential member to normally restore said container support frameto said upright position in the absence of any force exerted upon saidcable means.
 3. The invention according to claim 2 in which said cablemeans comprises a cable, one end of which is connected to a point onsaid container support frame radially spaced from the rotational axis ofsaid journal means, and means for attaching the other end of said cableto a stationary portion of the lift truck mechanism to which saidbracket is attached, whereby continued upward movement of said bracketrelative to said lift truck mechanism, past the height at which saidcable is taut, causes said container support frame to rotate toward saiddumping position.
 4. The invention according to claim 1 in which saidcircumferential member is ring-shaped, and said gripping means comprisesa standard fixed to and projecting upward from said ring-shaped memberon the opposite side from said bearing portion, said holding elementsbeing operatively mounted on said standard.
 5. The invention accordingto claim 4 in which said gripping means further comprise operative meanssupporting said holding elements for automatically receiving and holdingthe top rim of one side of a container positioned within said supportframe, and actuator means for relatively moving said holding elements torelease said top rim.
 6. The invention according to claim 5 in which oneof said holding elements comprises a first, downwardly opening, hookmember formed at the top of said standard for fitting over the top rimof an open-top container received within said container support frame,said other holding element comprises a second upwardly directed, hookmember journaled on said standard to move below said first hook memberand beneath the top rim of said container to hold said top rim, and tomove away from said first hook member to release said top rim.
 7. Theinvention according to claim 6 in which said actuator means forreleasing said holding elements comprises a lever mechanismcooperatively engaging said pivotal second hook member, and means foractuating said lever mechanism to move said second hook member away fromsaid first hook member and from beneath the top rim of a containerreceived in said container support frame.
 8. The invention according toclaim 1 in which said bracket comprises clamp means for detachableattachment to the forks of a fork lift truck mechanism, stationary armsdepending from said clamp means, said journal means being mounted onsaid depending arms below said clamp means.